


Slide Into the Void

by Cari0 (Cari01)



Category: Death and Taxes (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Parallel Universe Jumping, Developing Friendships, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, MAJOR CHARACTER DEATHS ARE TEMPORARY, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Department Managers, Potential Friends to Lovers Later On, Protag Grim Prefers She/Her Pronouns, Reincarnation, Spoilers Lie Within, Various Death Spawns, but she never bothers to correct others when they use they/them unless they ask
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:14:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26171776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cari01/pseuds/Cari0
Summary: NOTE: ON HIATIS UNTIL THE YEAR CALMS DOWN AND I CAN FIND TIME TO PLAY THE GAME THROUGH AGAIN. I haven't forgotten about this story, I promise. Just gotta remember what I was going for with it.Grim is beginning to lose hope that she’ll ever find a way out of the maze she finds herself trapped in, forever unable to figure out the goal of the powers that have captured her. Stuck in the midst of an endless series of time loops that she can’t can’t seem to escape, she is certain she has tried everything she could. Then a random accident shows her a new path forward that could lead her to the answers she’s been looking for. But she soon finds that it isn’t a path she can travel on her own. It’s only through cooperation with those around her that she can hope to get to the bottom of things and end the hellish loop once and for all.
Relationships: Fate & Grim (Death and Taxes)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	1. Let's Begin Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of my story! There’s a long, and I mean LONG, note at the end of the chapter that details a few important things about what to expect from this story so people don’t potentially waste their time reading a story they might not enjoy. I certainly hope that whoever reads it enjoys it though!
> 
> Quick stylistic note about my reaper's appearance. My reaper wears the in-game Kawaii cat ears with a black mid-length cloak, white button up shirt, orange cross-tie, grey sweater vest, black pleated skirt, white ankle socks and brown loafers. 
> 
> Content/Trigger Warnings: Major Character Death (Temp); Swearing; Some Violence; Mentions of Self-Hatred; Spoilers for the Usurper Ending
> 
> Italics: Flashback

Try to escape but you know the path you're on is game and set.  
_-[↑The Game of Life↓ (English Cover)【JubyPhonic】](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbHY7vBAp4o)_

"Finally. The new spawn has awoken."

Grim held back a morose sigh and stared back at the man across from her, face carefully blank. They were all back here again, where they always ended up. How many times had she been through this? She had lost count a while ago. After Grim gave her usual polite greeting of 'Nice to meet you, Fate', Fate continued with his typical description of her new job. However, she drifted off into her thoughts, not bothering to pay attention. She had already heard it before, after all. Many, many, many times over. What was it going to take to make this end? She's tried so many things. Saving the world, destroying the world, balancing the world, going with Fate's plans, or going against them.

It was becoming tedious and what had happened on the run before did not help her mood towards it all one bit. Before she could start ruminating too deeply, however, a questioning meow snapped her out of it. Grim blinked, refocusing her blurry vision, and properly looked at the man and cat sitting ahead of her. Both Fate and Lady Pawdington were looking intently at her with what seemed to be… concern? Nah, that couldn't be it. Probably just annoyance at the fact that she obviously hadn't been listening. She decided not to focus on that for now and quickly thought ahead to what had probably been said up to that point.

"Extremely. I'd like to get to work right now, actually," Grim replied with a straight face, correctly figuring she had been asked if she was clear on how the job worked and choosing the answer that would get her out of the office quickest without an escort to her workstation. Fate and Lady glanced at each other for a moment, that concerned look still on their faces, then Fate looked back at Grim with surprise while Lady curled up and seemed disinterested.

"Ah, you seem… quite committed, Grim. Well… Yes, then. Onward to your workplace," Fate replied, trying to keep his tone free of any confusion or concern and failing miserably. Not that it mattered, since the spawn in front of him didn't even seem to notice. As if they were completely on autopilot, Spawn 75 simply stood up, gave him a small polite bow it seemed, and hastily left the office with the door mostly shutting behind them.

"I'm not quite sure why, but I get the distinct feeling this conversation was certainly not meant to go like that," Fate said with a frown, staring at the door his latest spawn had vanished through. He startled a bit when Lady suddenly jumped to the floor and went over to the door, pawing at it and looking at him quizzically. "Ah, you sense it too? Something is definitely off… Alright. You can keep an eye on that Grim if you truly feel it is necessary." Lady looked pleased and flicked her tail once at him in what seemed to be a salute before slipping out the door herself. Fate let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head. He wouldn't lie and say he wasn't curious but the curiosity would surely end up killing his dear cat first.

Lady Pawdington quietly stalked down the corridor, glad to have something to do other than sit in her person's office. She liked all the space in there. But she enjoyed slinking around the entire tower, too, and having someone to spy on always made it even more fun. Besides, the new Grim felt strangely familiar and Lady was curious about that. She attracted very little attention, as the Grims in the office were used to seeing her stalk around the area. She followed after the new spawn who was walking quickly, almost as if she knew exactly where she was going. Lady found her curiosity even more piqued when it turned out that the grim did know where she was going. She never made a single wrong turn and when she entered the large open room full of cubicles and desks, she immediately zeroed in on the desk that was assigned to her, even though she hadn't even been told which desk belonged to her.

Lady glanced around and noticed a decorative ledge on the wall behind where her target had sat down. So she slinked around the edge of the large room, carefully staying out of the new spawn's sights. She then hopped up onto the ledge and lazily settled upon it, ready to spend the day spying on the newbie.

Grim sighed and sat down, completely running on autopilot at this point. She was shaking slightly as she opened the drawers on her desk and started taking the things she had stored within it out. She left most things in her drawer but carefully arranged her favorite ancient widgets on the desk. Her lamp, snowglobe, calendar, radio, and cellphone sat on the desk while everything else was kept hidden within the drawers.

She frowned, glaring at the two papers that came from the fax as she tried to calm her nerves. Considering what she had just gone through on her last run, it had been both distressing and a relief to see Fate sitting in his chair again. Right where he belonged in her opinion. She always hated seeing that chair empty, oftentimes beckoning her to sit upon it. But last time had been the worst time she had ever had with it, hands down. She continued to stare blankly at the papers and the marker of death on her desk as her mind drifted to what she had just escaped from. The memories were so fresh in her mind. Which made sense, considering that for her these things happened less than half an hour ago.

_She was staring at a single profile on her desk in disbelief. 'What the fuck is this?!' Luckily she had already stored all her shit in her desk drawers in preparation for leaving again or she may have knocked something breakable from the desk in her shock. Upon her desk sat a profile she wasn't even sure should exist. One belonging to her boss, Fate. Why was this here? Were immortals even supposed to have profiles? She'd only ever seen human profiles before, after all. Did this kind of thing even work the same? She looked at the innocent letter sitting on her desk and picked it up with slightly shaking hands, opening it to read it._

_"This is your chance, Grim._

_Everything rests on this moment. You only have one final choice to make._

_Quota for the day:_  
_* Fate must die._

_Trust yourself,_  
_Your Friend and Benefactor"_

_She was stunned and sat there for a moment, trying to process what she was seeing. She had never suspected seeing what those red profiles wanted would lead to this. She did suspect that whoever was sending them was not a fan of Fate's but she didn't think they'd want to off him! That was ridiculous!_

_Besides, following this mysterious person's instructions had led to the end of the world anyway. So what would be the point in killing Fate now? He had already succeeded in his plans to usher in the Great Dying, after all. Nothing would change that. Plus, Fate was already beginning to rethink this whole destroying the world thing, it seemed. She had never seen him feel so conflicted about the result of his plans before._

_Fate should've been practically leaping for joy at this point, well by his standards anyway. But instead, these last few days he'd seemed rather melancholy and maybe a bit remorseful. Not really towards the humans. He seemed to still have very little love for them and she could understand why. She'd been in his place for a while before, after all. With working conditions the way they were at that job, it was no wonder that he snapped and was willing to do anything to get some peace from it. Doing it for a month had nearly driven her to madness herself and as far as she remembered, Fate said he'd been with the humans as long as they had existed. That was a LONG time. No wonder he wanted out._

_But rather than feeling remorse for his actions towards the humans, he seemed more remorseful about the fact that he "used" her to do it while knowing that she cared for the humans. He even expressed this to her and had apologized about it, though he had needed to talk himself into it. Technically he hadn't even used her this time but she had been both pretty surprised and somewhat flattered by the fact that he apologized, nonetheless. She was fairly certain that Fate never apologized to anyone, let alone someone he would likely see as beneath him. It certainly meant something had changed for the better within him, though she wasn't sure what, and it gave her hope that maybe this sort of positive change would continue to take hold of him. Maybe eventually the nihilism would begin to leave him and he'd be able to enjoy existing again, even if it was just a little bit for a while._

_In any case, she was certainly not in the mood to kill the man. The phrasing the sender had used to sign the letter made her feel uneasy as well. This mystery person certainly wasn't their friend. She'd run this path simply because it was one she hadn't tried before that seemed promising. That was her only reason. The word Benefactor bothered her even more, however. This implied that somehow, her killing Fate and then taking his place would benefit them. But how would it do that? The entirety of the Earth branch of the office was already set to collapse. Was their erasure from the office what this person would benefit from? If that were the case then there was no way she could trust them, that's for sure._

_She glared at the letter, returning it to the table a bit more roughly than was necessary. She grabbed up her marker of death and was about to mark the live box when both the profile and pen were snatched from her hands. She was startled for a second before she turned and glared at the offender, not at all surprised to see just who she expected._

_"Bret, you scumbag, give those back," Grim growled dangerously at the Reaper behind her, who was looking at the profile with bored interest. He didn't seem to react as if the profile was strange, however, which struck her as odd._

_"Why're you struggling with this decision at all, nameless?" The other reaper asked her this mockingly, calling her by the shitty moniker he'd spread around the office when he learned that she didn't have a name other than "Grim". "It's just one last, measly human. Get over it and kill 'em already." Before she could even get a word in edgewise, the bullying reaper marked the profile in his hands for death and hit the button to send it through the fax. He had a smug grin on his face while Grim watched both the file and marker vanish in stunned silence which quickly turned to horror as what happened finally caught up to her._

_"Holy shit, what the fuck did you just do…?" Grim asked, voice trembling a bit with both dismay and rage._

_"I just did your job for you. You're welcome," Bret replied haughtily, clearly not realizing the fact that he had just doomed his boss. "Besides, you clearly weren't cut out to be responsible for the last profile in the office if you were planning to let that human live. I'll never understand why YOU of all reapers seem to be the boss' favorite."_

_When he mentioned Fate, something in Grim snapped. She stood up and punched Bret in the face extremely hard. Hard enough that there was a crack in the other's skull where she had hit him. He cried out, mostly in shock, and fell back towards the ground. He almost caught his balance but was then knocked to the ground by a sudden kick to his midsection. When he hit the floor, the other reaper didn't let up at all. She angrily drove her foot into his hipbone and ground it in, causing the reaper beneath her heel to cry out in pain that he technically shouldn't have felt. But the magic flowing through every reaper allowed them to experience all of the senses and sensations the world could give them, pain being one of those sensations._

_"You've got no idea what you've just done, you stupid asshole!" Grim yelled while she dug her heel down harder, her angry voice echoing around the large room that was empty save for the two of them. "I'd really oughta grind you to fucking dust! Did you really not see who that profile belonged to?! Are you fucking blind?!" She roughly slammed her foot down twice more, feeling both frustrated and devastated. The skeleton on the ground groaned in pain and Grim was about to kick at his ribs next when a loud, warbling meow got both reaper's attention. Lady Pawdington was standing not too far away and glaring them both down, clearly super upset and looking for someone to blame for it. Grim immediately stepped away from Bret and gestured their hand at him, glaring right back at the cat maliciously. Though Lady could tell the malice in Grim’s glare wasn't meant for her._

_"If you're looking for the fuckwad who killed your person, here he is," Grim said to her, looking down towards the other Reaper to glare at him accusingly. "This fucking shitstain thought he'd act all cute and stole the profile and marker. He'd marked it and sent it off before I could do anything." She looked back at Lady, her expression softening to a pained look of sympathy and sorrow that simply couldn't be faked. "Cat, you know how I feel about him. I wouldn't ever mark him for death. Nothing he could do would ever get me to do so."_

_Lady stared at Grim for a moment, a sort of understanding seeming to pass between them before she glared at the still downed reaper and began stalking towards him with an enraged growl. Leaving the bully to his doom with the cat, Grim made her way towards Fate's office, afraid of what she might find there but feeling like she had to know. She couldn't just leave without knowing. She made her way into the elevator and up to the top floor, ignoring the mirror beckoning for her attention. She could let it berate and mock her for her failures later. Right now she was on a mission. Maybe it didn't work? Though Lady's reaction didn't really provide her hope that this was the case. She could've just been angry that someone tried to kill her person. She knew how the profiles worked, after all, and she would've recognized Fate's picture. But something in Grim told her that simply wasn't the case and that she should prepare to see the results of the worst possible outcome from this._

_Grim soon stood before the door to her boss' office, beginning to lose her nerve and dreading what she might see. Maybe he will have vanished without a trace? Or perhaps she'd find nothing more than a skeleton sitting on the floor behind the desk, it's eerie smile taunting her. Grim frowned and shook her head clear of any thoughts before steeling herself and pushing open the door. The sight she saw was peculiar but not as haunting as she had feared. Instead, it made her feel a deep sadness and heartache she was not prepared to feel. It wasn't a feeling she could've even seen coming, considering she couldn't recall ever having felt anything like it before._

_From the door it looked like Fate had simply fallen asleep at his desk, head resting against his folded arms and his reflective glasses askew on his face just enough to see that his eyes were closed. There was even a slight smile on his face as if he were having a pleasant dream. Perhaps, for him it was. He had always looked to fall into the peaceful grasp of nothingness. Maybe he'd realized in his last moments he was about to get what he had been searching for? Perhaps he'd just been pleased that he'd been given the chance to truly experience death in the same way the humans he had watched over for centuries did. The idea was both comforting and extremely heartbreaking to Grim._

_She sat down in the chair across from her boss rested her head in her palm, propping her arm up with her elbow resting on the table. She then reached her other hand across the desk and grabbed one of Fate's hands in her own, not even realizing what she was doing until she had already done it. She couldn't bring herself to let go when she did notice so she just didn't._

_She had shaken his hand before, the first few times she had been brought to this office, so at least she knew that his hand wouldn't be warm. A plus to being immortal. Even if you appear human, an immortal doesn’t need body heat so they don’t produce it. At the very least she wouldn't have to feel the heat leave his body as she would've if he was a mortal. However, there was something notable absent. The magical energy that had existed and flowed within was gone and now the only remaining traces of Fate's unique magical energy existed in the air of the room._

_Grim wanted to cry so badly. She really did. She needed to, even. But she just couldn't do it. Even as she sat there, trying to come to grips with what had happened this time and deal with even a small bit of her grief, she could feel the temporal and spatial tides of the universe tugging at her and urging her to move forward to the next timeline as they always did. But she wouldn't go yet. She needed to sort through this a bit, at least in her head. Enough that she could hold herself together at least until the end of the first workday in the next run. Enough that she wouldn't immediately break at seeing Fate alive again so soon after seeing him dead._

_She made a decision then on what to do and got up, squeezing Fate's hand before letting go. She gave him one last glance, noticing his shut eyes again and feeling a slight bit of relief that his eyes hadn't been open when she had found him. If she ever did manage to get a glance at her boss' eyes, she would rather they be full of 'life' so to say, rather than empty and dead. She left the room and made her way to the elevator, going back to the office floor and entering the room._

_Bret was nowhere to be seen and Grim figured the little turd had fled. Grim wasn't alone in the room, however. She saw that Lady Pawdington was morosely curled up on her desk, pawing gently at the squeaky toy she had kept in her desk for this round. Her tail flicked once to make Grim aware that she knew of her presence but the cat didn't do much else but lightly bat the toy with her paw, which made a concerned squeaking noise._

_"Ah, I see you found Gerbil," Grim said quietly, walking over and slowly sitting down as to not startle Lady. She didn't make a single move to acknowledge what Grim had said, though she seemed to be attempting to look much more nonchalant than she was. Grim gave a soft smile at the cat before reaching into one of her desk drawers and pulling out a red journal-like book. Grim knew she needed to get some of her theories, ideas, thoughts, and feelings onto paper or she wouldn't be able to hold in all of her mixed-up feelings until the evening._

_So for about 15 to 20 minutes she furiously scribbled on some of the blank pages. Whatever came to mind she wrote down or drew. She wrote down all her sorrow and anguish. Her sense of failure. Her ideas of who could be behind these red profiles and most importantly a reminder to hers that the person behind the res profiles had something to gain even with the world ending, which means that are dangerous and can't be trusted. When she finished, she returned the journal to its drawer, feeling a lot more cooled off and back in control of herself. Lady, who had been despondent watching Grim scribble away at her journal, looked up at her with a slightly curious look._

_"I swear I'll figure it out," Grim said, mostly to herself. "There's gotta be another way. I won't let things end up like this, no matter what I have to do." Lady looked up at her and let out a small meow. Recognizing that the Reaper needed to be somewhere, Lady simply brushed her tail gently against Grim's hand before circling up with the Gerbil and going to sleep, deciding to trust in this Grim to handle whatever it was on her own. Grim gave the cat a small smile before leaving the room. That cat had grown on her through all these runs. She wouldn't let her pet her yet but maybe at some point. She took a moment to separate herself from her emotions and let out a sigh, face carefully blank. She could do this. She stepped out of the elevator and went into Mortimer's shop._

_"Ahoy, matey. Ready to hoist sail and weigh anchor, then?" Mortimer asked her, not bothering her with the usual spiel about the recurrence of all things. They were both pretty sick of it at this point anyway and it was clear something particularly bad had happened this run. Something Grim hadn't been able to process yet. This was always the case when Grim had that carefully blank expression. It had been a while since he'd seen it. Grim simply gave Mortimer a curt nod and prepared herself to feel the somewhat painful effects of going through the time stream yet again._

Grim shook themselves out of their thoughts, inwardly scolding themselves and quickly looking to see how much time had passed. Not too much, but enough that it would possibly be strange that she hadn't chosen yet. Especially with only two profiles. She quickly looked over the profiles immediately marked then, sending them through the fax. She didn't even need the lamp since they had seen those two profiles plenty of times before. Then she got up and took a moment before putting on a suitably contemplative facade that would match how long she had taken at her desk. She felt about ready to burst from the emotions her memories of the last run brought but she bottled them for now. She could cry and throw a fit and whatever when she made it to her room after this.

Grim walked into Fate's office and sat across from him, averting her eyes from him to a point where it would still look like she was looking at him even though she wasn't. She had a hard enough time keeping things hidden from the man as it was, let alone when she was so upset and exhausted. She'd have to be careful or she'd end up breaking down in front of him. Not only could she end up revealing too much but she'd never live it down if that happened. Talk about embarrassment…

"Sorry for taking so long, sir," Grim said after she'd settled into the seat. Fate seemed completely perplexed when she said this, looking at her strangely.

"It's only your first day here, Grim," Fate replied, carefully watching his tone. It was clear he'd need to walk in eggshells here, though he wasn't quite sure why. The spawn across from him blinked in surprise at this. Almost as if they had forgotten it was only their first day. How strange… "The process always takes some getting used to for new spawns. There's no need to hold yourself to any arbitrary time limits or any other standards you might think of. You might've been created for this but I certainly don't expect you to be amazingly competent at it right out of the cauldron."

Grim seemed to think on his words for a moment before giving him a small nod in agreement and a slight smile. An inexplicably sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. Fate wasn't quite sure why he was so pleased with this but he felt himself relax a bit, feeling that he could watch his words a little less closely. After all, if he of all people could make this reaper smile then whatever internal crisis they were dealing with so soon after waking up couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Now, how was your first day?" Fate asked, properly beginning the daily review. Grim recognized the question immediately and knew that they were back on track so she relaxed a bit herself.

"Okay, I guess," she replied with a shrug. It was mostly the truth after all. The job itself wasn't the problem, after all.

"Good, good. I understand it may take time to get acclimated... everyone goes through that phase," Fate replied, wondering to himself why he'd even bothered to add that second sentence. Hadn't he just basically the same thing a moment ago? He decided to ignore that and just continue forward. "I see exactly one person perished today, as tasked. Did you figure out the best choice?"

"There were only two people. Not really much room for a 'best choice', is there?" Grim replied cheekily, getting back into the swing of it. The familiar conversation was comforting in a way and it was surprisingly easy to put her troubles aside for the moment. Fate let out a surprised sound before shutting his mouth in a tight frown and looking away, seemingly startled. Grim put on a confused look on the outside but in her head, she was snickering. She had figured it out a fair amount of runs ago. While being maliciously mouthy tended to piss Fate off to no end, being cheeky without any malicious intent was typically a sure-fire way to get the man to laugh.

He'd never laugh aloud, always trying to hide the fact that he found it amusing. But after seeing it enough, it was easy for her to tell. No need to let him know that she knew that, though. It'd limit her ability to mess with him later on and that'd be a shame. Getting her stoic boss to laugh was one of the only things that would forever bring her joy in these loops.

Fate let out a little cough to cover the few snickers he wanted to let out and got himself back on track, carefully trying to hide his amusement. It was always nice to get Grims with a personality out of the potion and despite whatever he had screwed up in the potion to have given this one an immediate internal crisis it was clear that they also had a great personality to go with it. Perhaps, he might even get along well with this one given enough time… He immediately shelved that thought, he had work to do. No time for that, whatever that was. He must be spending too much time alone lately.

"Indeed. I am glad you are paying attention," Fate replied. "In the future, I may require you to make more difficult choices. Keep your eye on the letter for future guidelines... and keep up the good work." Fate held out a hand to the reaper across from him for a handshake to close off their little meeting. Interestingly, even though most new spawns usually hesitated before shaking his hand, this spawn had no such hesitation in them. Almost as if they had been doing this for a long time now.

Their handshake was also surprisingly confident, warm, and welcoming. Even despite the turmoil they had quite obviously been feeling ever since they had awoken. It also felt extremely familiar for some reason but he couldn't place why. Oh well, best to not let such small things distract him. He had an office to run, after all, and this spawn was just a simple cog in the machine. No matter how intriguing he found them to be. He let go of Grim's hand and politely dismissed them from the office "A new day awaits! Off you go now."

Grim gave him a peculiar smile before turning and leaving the office. They seemed to be in a much better mood than they had been when they first awoke. Hopefully, his assessment of their elevated mood was accurate. He wasn't quite keen on the idea of one of his workers having to deal with the same kind of misery he had to, after all. He might not be the kindest of people but he would never wish that on anyone else.

Grim closed the door behind them and walked towards the elevator, feeling quite a bit better than when she had exited it earlier. It wasn't all too surprising as her end of day chats with Fate always boosted her mood a bit, even if they were similar enough to the point that she had memorized the beats of every conversation. Though sometimes she was pleasantly surprised. Within the last few runs, she had managed to open up completely new topics of conversation between them with a well-placed question here and there.

She could probably talk with her boss for days without getting bored. She wasn't sure that he would say the same. But considering the fact that she kept all of her memories and he always lost them, she wasn't surprised at the one-sidedness of this 'friendship' or whatever it was. She'd like to think that they would be great friends if he kept his memories but she couldn't be sure. She hadn't even once managed to convince him to not destroy the humans, after all. If she couldn't even figure out how to do that could she truly consider herself a good friend? Maybe she was expecting too much from herself. She only had a month every time, after all. But she felt that to be a good friend, she should at least be able to help him find some worth in his continued existence.

Grim shook her head and stepped out of the elevator when it reached the floor her room was on, trying to force the self-doubt out of her mind. But she couldn't do it. It was as much a part of her as anything else was and she found herself thinking that maybe a person whose continued existence isn't worth shit shouldn't be trying to convince other people that theirs is. Grim frowned and forcefully pushed the hateful thought to the back of her mind. She stalked passed the mirror in the front room connected to her own without even glancing at it, ignoring the gruff voice that was coming from it and shooting its vitriolic hate at her. She knew she was going to have problems with that side of her 'Conscience' this run, considering both her spectacular failure earlier and the fact that she was bottling up her grief rather than dealing with it. But she had a mission and she was determined to complete it, even though she wasn't quite sure what the win conditions were yet. At least she didn't feel like throwing a fit or crying anymore. Maybe if she worked at it, she could fool her mind into believing things were okay and that the voice wasn't there for a while.

Unfortunately, she couldn't fool her mind into giving her a peaceful rest that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the long ass note at the end here but there are a few things that should be established right off the bat as I want you guys to know exactly what you’re getting into and it’s not practical to use tags to address these things.
> 
> \- Tags will be added as the story updates to avoid spoilers for important plot points. So be aware that not all the tags that I intend to use are listed. However, any potential trigger warnings I can think of will be listed before every chapter. If I miss any that you think is important for a chapter, please tell me so I can add it to the list at the beginning of that chapter.
> 
> \- I don't know how long this'll be or how long it will take to complete. I won't promise an update schedule cause whenever I try to hold myself to a schedule I always seem to enjoy writing less and I have a more difficult time getting anything out. However I will complete this story. This game has so few fan works and it would frankly be insulting if I didn't finish this, you know? But you should know that I am very prone to long stretches of writer’s block. I actually only just got over a long stretch of it. Playing this game, a song I listened to, and interacting with the people in the game’s discord server actually inspired me to start writing this. So thanks for that, guys. I have a general idea document written out, as people from the server probably know. So I’m fairly confident about seeing this whole thing through to the end.
> 
> \- It's important to note that I am considering romantically pairing Fate and Grim later in the story. However, the story won’t really focus on it exclusively as it is meant to focus more on solving the mystery surrounding the office and why Grim is constantly being tossed into new timelines featuring the same loop over and over. Grim’s developing friendships/relationships with Fate as well as others in the story are meant to support the main plotline after all, not overshadow it. So don’t worry if it’s not really your cup of tea as it won’t become a super prominent feature of the story.
> 
> \- There are going to be quite a few OCs in here as the scope office in this story will not be limited only to the human department, though much of the story will take place mostly within it.There are several other departments that will become important to the story later on so the managers and quite a few workers from these will at the very least be background characters if not secondary characters. I’m not a big fan of using many OCs myself. I never have been. But the small amount of characters in the game does not lend itself well to the story I wish to write. Hence OCs.
> 
> I’m gonna try and avoid any super long notes like this in the future and try to keep any important information as small snippets either before or after the chapter. I’m super excited to write something for this game and contribute to this small fandom and I hope you all enjoy! Especially those of you who have shown interest for this on the discord server. You all know who you are. :D


	2. Into the Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Welcome to the second chapter! Now the most checking this thing has had is a quick glance over and a run through the basic version of Grammarly so apologizes for anything I might've missed. I'll probably look over it again after work(If I dont die since its Labor Day) but I wanted to put it up now. It was put up from my phone so I don't know how it looks on a browser yet. This one is longer than the last chapter though so that's fun! There's more relationship establishing in this chapter than anything to do with mystery solving. But that's just to be expected in the beginning of a story. I hope those of you reading enjoy it and if you do, please tell me. I enjoy hearing what people enjoy about my stories and what they think I can do better at. Plus it makes it more fun to write. ^_^
> 
> Content/Trigger Warnings: Swearing; Violence(no graphic descriptions); brief mention of wanting to die; Slight Spoilers for Takeover Ending

You say you think we need to go to war. Well, you're already in one.  
_-[Fuck You by Lily Allen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcy5AUvm7iE)_

Grim's second day in the office went smoothly, though the terrible sleep she had the night before did her no favors when it came to interacting with her colleagues. Their first impressions of her likely either quiet and grumpy or cold and unapproachable. Not a great start. If the world was destroyed again, that was one thing. But if she ended up in Fate's place again, which is the result she was aiming for, it would benefit her to be viewed positively by most of her department. When she woke up from her second night in a row of shit sleep, she knew something had to change if she wanted to find what she needed to before inevitably getting tossed into another timeline. That meant it was time to take a look in the mirror.

"Knock, knock."

"Yeah, yeah. I know what you are," Grim replied as she walked up to the mirror, glaring as her reflection shifted. Her actual reflection was quickly replaced by that of a human girl glaring back at her with the same expression.

The pale human had a somewhat round face with wide brown eyes that were subtly lined with black eyeliner. Her irises were larger than what is typical in humans, likely due to enlarging contacts of some sort. Her thick hair was styled into a short and somewhat messy boyish cut. She seemed pretty young as far as humans go. Maybe 21? She couldn't tell though as her reflections clothing never shifted. If it shifted into something the girl typically wore, she could've potentially guessed the age from that.

Grim still wasn't certain, but she believed this girl may have been who she had been before she died and came here. She only started replacing her current appearance after the mirror mentioned that she died to get here, implying that Fate was either ignorant of her true origins or lying about it. After so many runs, she had concluded that Fate simply had no clue. After all, other Grims in the office seemed to be in the same boat as her. Well, minus the dimensional travel. Very few of her colleagues in the office, both in her department and the others, were pure magic. Most of them seemed to be the souls of humans who died and were repurposed. But Fate and all of the other departmental managers seemed ignorant of this. Only a few Grims were brought into existence for the first time via the potion. Karen was one example that came to mind. She believed there was a Kevin somewhere in the tower. There might've been a Kyle, too.

"Good! 'round we go again. Didn't think You had it in you," the mirror quipped at her.

"So where's Mr. Grumpy McAsshole then? I got a few choice words to tell him," Grim replied, crossing her arms. "Namely to politely piss off, if he would."

"Believe me, I want him gone as much as you do," The mirror stated, sounding a bit exasperated. "I'd also prefer to get rid of the 'exalted goddess' one as well. But that's your responsibility, not mine."

"I know," Grim replied with a sigh, her glare softening since it was clear the personality that was in the mirror today was the one she didn't hate."So why are you here rather than them?"

"Well, you came to the mirror seeking advice, did you not?" The mirror asked cheekily. "Who else would you get it from but me, hmm?"

"Careful or you might start sounding like Ms. WorshipMe," Grim stated, giving the mirror pause.

"True enough," the mirror replied amicably. If it had arms, it probably would've shrugged.

"You know what I want, lady," Grim said, a small frown on her face.

"And you know what I'll say," the mirror threw back. "After all, you don't have time to work on yourself. You have a job to do."

"There aren't any other leads though," Grim replied with aggravation. "I need to stay long enough to find what I'm looking for. But I can't do so and focus at the same time if I wanna fucking kms the whole time."

"Well Fate seems to manage fine enough, doesn't he," the mirror asked, causing Grim to glare.

"Oh so well. Until he, you know, goes off the deep end," Grim hissed. She then sighed and shook her head in exasperation. "I seriously admire that guy. I don't know how he's kept the world balanced _and_ kept himself sane up to this point. I can barely manage a week. But I need to last longer than that."

"Oh come on. You haven't done too bad," the mirror exclaimed, trying to encourage her. "Sure, he _has_ managed to last longer than you in that position but he doesn't exactly have the tides of space and time trying to pull him in and dissipate him the entire time."

"True, but I can't help but feel I should be doing better at this point," Grim said with frustration, looking down at the table the mirror was hanging over with a glare. "How long has it been? I know it hasn't been _that_ long but come on… it's pathetic."

"And therein lies your problem, reaper," the mirror chuckled, while Grim sighed. "But we were both already aware of this."

"Right," Grim said with a frustrated frown. "And we don't have proper time to deal with that."

"Perhaps you should enlist outside help, then," the mirror replied. "Not with our goals, obviously, but perhaps if you surrounded yourself with people who cared about you…"

"Build up a friendship with them, end up getting attached, and then have them forget who I am every time I have to loop? No way," Grim responded, stubbornly looking away from the mirror and glaring at the wall. "I'd rather avoid that kind of heartache as much as possible, thank you."

"I just don't understand the resistance considering you already do the same with…" the mirror's sentence was quickly cut off by a pissed off sound that came from Grim.

"He and the cat do NOT count!" Grim exclaimed, giving a firm glare towards the mirror. "My attachment to them formed before I even knew what I'd been thrown into. There was no preventing that. And before you say it Mortimer doesn't count either, considering his role in all of this. Plus, he doesn't forget."

"Would you have kept yourself from growing attached to them if you'd known?" The mirror asked curiously, causing Grim to pause and think for a moment.

"I don't think I would," Grim replied after she'd thought it through. "You know how I am with animals so Lady doesn't really count, since I'd like her no matter what. But with Fate…"

"You could've denounced him the moment he betrayed you the first time. But you didn't," the mirror stated frankly. "How come?"

"I'm not sure… Something just seemed off, you know?" Grim replied, seeming a bit nonplussed. "Something told me that he wasn't meant to just sit around and sulk in an office to do a job that he hates. I just knew there was something about him that, to me, made it one hundred percent worth giving up a piece of myself to try and help him find some sort of meaning in life again.

"And yet you say you don't like him in that way," the mirror teased, causing Grim to pout.

"I don't," Grim replied stubbornly. "He's my boss, after all. It would be ridiculously irresponsible and unprofessional of me to like him like that. Besides, you've said before that I tend to be self-sacrificing and everything."

"Well yes, but you're simply knee-deep in denial at this point," the voice replied with a scoff.

"The most I could say is that we're friends and nothing more," Grim stated, giving the mirror a pointed look. "Hell, I can hardly say that, considering he always forgets who I am and any of the conversations we've had together every time I start a new run."

"Who is to say your boss and his meth cat forget at all? Maybe you're just being screwed with," a new voice suddenly replied, also coming from the mirror. This one was male and was a lot more vitriolic than the other one.

"Ah, look who's returned," Grim quipped unkindly. "Shame you've joined us. The conversation was almost somewhat productive for once."

"You can't ignore me forever, Reaper," the voice responded just as viciously. "Besides, you can't deny that it is quite convenient that it is easier to get Fate to trust you every time."

"That's already been discussed with Mortimer," the first voice from the mirror suddenly interrupted. "You obviously haven't been paying much attention."

"The only time he pays attention is when something happens that he can use to drag me through the dirt," Grim spat, her distaste for the male voice in the mirror very apparent. Though it seemed tinged with a melancholy that the male voice lacked. Grim looked down, contemplating something. "Not that I don't do the same to you. We're very alike in that way, unfortunately."

"Of course we are, idiot. I am part of you, after all," the male voice replied, though it didn't seem to be as vicious as it had been so far as it calmed down a bit. "We both have issues that can't exactly be resolved."

"It's not too late for her though," the first voice stated almost pleadingly to the second one. "So maybe we can all lay off her a bit this time? It really does seem we might be able to find something out. Fate seems to have been a lot more open to her initially than he usually is."

"You think so," Grim asked the mirror curiously, not having noticed anything like that at all on her first or second day on the job. That could be boiled down to her exhaustion due to her terrible dreams while sleeping, however.

"She's right, he has been. It's why I'm feeling suspicious," the male voice replied with a sigh. "But fine. I can target someone else for a while I suppose…"

"Why not target… Well, you know who?" Grim asked the mirror with a slight grin, being careful not to accidentally summon who she was speaking of. "If you ask me, little Ms. Narcissist doesn't get enough attention around here…"

"I'm sure she'd agree with you," the gruff voice replied. Grim could practically hear his metaphorical eyes roll. "Fine. I hate her much more than I dislike you anyways."

"Are you admitting that you don't hate me," Grim asked with genuine surprise. The male voice scoffed at that, though there didn't seem to be much malice behind the sound.

"Don't get used to it," the voice grumbled back, seeming to be pouting. Then a third voice suddenly interjected into the conversation, to the distaste of all three speakers.

"Ah, it seems to me that I have walked in on quite a drab conversation," the voice stated haughtily, clearly having no idea what they had been talking about the entire time. "Fear not, for my presence has now brought this meeting from drab to fabulous!"

"And look, the prodigal son of a bitch has returned to us," The gruff voice replied angrily, drawing an insulted gasp from the new voice and a sigh of exasperation from the first one.

"And that would be my cue to leave," Grim replied, somewhat cheered up from both the comment towards her least favorite voice and the fact that she wouldn't be the target of that anger for a while. "Have fun duking it out. Be seeing you." She left the mirror with a snicker while the two voices began to argue loudly at one another, neither the voices nor herself noticing the presence of the cat that had been hiding up in the rafters of the room sneak out after her.

Grim got to her desk a bit later than typical but quickly got down to work, examining her documents and settling down to shine the lamp on them and consider what choices she'd make that day. The day was going well for her and she was in a pretty good mood, all things considered. That was until she felt her desk shake suddenly as someone bumped into it. Grim lurched forward to grab her snowglobe and prevent it from falling. But as soon as she had it in her hands, it was swiped from her by someone else. She looked towards the thief with a glare, prepared to demand her property back. Her glare only darkened when she saw who had both shaken her desk and stolen one of her most prized ancient widgets.

"Bret," Grim growled at the idiot reaper shaking the globe roughly with some sort of confusion on his face.

"Ah, I see my reputation precedes me," Bret replied with a maliciously teasing grin, looking towards Grim with a slightly disdainful air about him.

"Yeah, your reputation for being an unbelievably unbearable nuisance," Grim replied, her anger at the other spawn amplified by what he had done in her previous run. "Now stop stealing my shit and fuck off."

"Aw, the new baby reaper has a temper," Bret teased cruelly. He carelessly tossed the globe up and down in his hand.

"Leave the new spawn alone, Bret," another reaper in the room called over. Grim wasn't quite sure who it was as she only vaguely recognized the voice. "They haven't done anything to you."

"Back off, I'll do whatever I want to" Bret replied aggressively. In his aggressiveness, he accidentally tossed the globe too high and when it fell back down, he missed the grab. The globe fell to the ground and loudly broke into many pieces, catching the attention of every reaper and ghost janitor in the room. Everybody present stared shocked at the mess for a moment before looking at the globe's owner, who was still staring at the mess with a sort of unsurprised but baffled look. She then looked up at Bret with a flat look that made the other spawn feel surprisingly nervous.

"Ummm… Oops?" Bret asked, feeling like he was in grave danger now. Sure he planned on breaking the thing. But when he was a safe distance away from the new spawn, not right in front of them. Grim simply stared at him for a moment before reaching into her desk, grabbing a fidget spinner of all things, and starting to spin it. Everyone else remained frozen in a startled and confused state at her strange reaction. What was the new reaper planning? It startled everyone when the spinner caught on fire and as it became clear to Bret what was about to happen, he attempted to run away. But he didn't get very far before the flaming spinner was powerfully launched at him, hitting him square in the head. This alone wouldn't have been so bad. But as the spinner rebounded from the hit, it brushed against his clothes and left a trail of flame that quickly spread to the rest of his clothing. The reaper gave a startled scream and ran out of the room to try to get to the bathroom and put himself out.

The room was quiet for a moment before a small cheer rang out. Soon enough the entire room was full of amused laughter at Bret's suffering. It wasn't like the fire would kill him or anything and nobody liked him much at all. A little dressing down would do the cocky bastard some good, in their opinion. Everyone was so busy laughing and chatting at each other about what had just gone down that nobody but the cat lounging about in the corner of the room noticed the reaper responsible for it quickly mark her profiles and send them in before gathering up both her spinner and the broken pieces of her snowglobe, putting all of her remaining stuff into her desk and slipping out of the room. The cat followed her out, also remaining unnoticed.

Grim walked out of the elevator and into Mortimer's store, seeming quite morose. Mortimer looked up and noticed one of his favorite customers walking in quite a bit earlier than she typically would.

"Welcome back, good customer!" Mortimer greeted cheerily, only receiving a slight smile in return. "Ay, what seems to be troublin' ye?" Grim sighed before walking over to a nearby table and placing the broken snowglobe on it silently. Mortimer made a shocked noise when he saw the state it was in.

"Mind tellin' ol' Mortimer what happened to this here globe, then?" Mortimer asked Grim curiously. "Ne'er seen the thing so busted up before."

"Well, Bret snatched it up from my desk and his clumsy ass dropped it," Grim replied with a shrug.

"Well surely ye didn't just let 'em get away wit it," Mortimer replied.

"Pfft! No," Grim exclaimed, both amused and disappointed in herself as she thought about what had happened. "I spun the fidget spinner until it was on fire and launched it at him _really hard_. I ended up catching him on fire in the process."

"Ah, so that be where the screams came from then," Mortimer said with a full and hearty pirate laugh while Grim snickered a bit. "Ah, seems the lad got a mite bit on yer nerves, ay?"

"Oh definitely. It was kinda immature of me… I wish I'd been able to control myself better. But it was satisfying. He was the one responsible for… you know, a few days ago. I just couldn't stop myself," Grim replied.

"...so it was his doin' then," Mortimer replied, properly sober about it. "Ay did think it quite strange that ye went through wit it, but I'd figured ye had yer reasons. Good ta hear that I wasn't wrong 'bout that. An' ye certainly can't be blamed for yer action, considerin' the circumstances." He looked back at the broken globe with a tsk noise. "Seems we got quite a problem to deal wit here, now. Specialty since ye be tryin' for perfectly balancin' I assume?"

"Yeah," Grim said with a sigh. "Utopias are great and all but they're too suspicious for what I'm searching for. I wanna be average, not outstanding."

"That'll be mighty difficult without this here widget," Mortimer said, Grim nodding in agreement. Mortimer thought for a moment. "I can restore it for the next run but ye will have to be without for the rest of this one. I believe I may be able to provide ye with a suitable substitute… I would need ye to bring your radio here, however."

"The radio?" Grim asked curiously.

"Ye will see why. Simply bring it here and it'll be on your desk come morning," Mortimer said, ushering her out of the room to go get the radio. Once Grim had left to go get the radio, Mortimer glanced at the small shadow moving to follow after her.

"Ay," he called out amicably to the cat. Lady Pawdington paused in her pursuit and looked over to Mortimer with both curiosity and slight annoyance. Her target was moving farther away, after all. "I might not be sure 'bout yer reasonin' for follwin' that reaper, but ye seem ta care for her a bit. If that be the case, ye might want to be makin' ye way to yer person’s office an' convincin' him ta be honest an’ go easy on her. I get a bad feelin' that things might go south fer the both of 'em if he i'nt." The cat stood still and stared at him intently for a moment before bounding out of the room. Whether to the office or after her target, Mortimer wasn't sure.

Lady Pawdington padded up the stair railing, pausing at the floor that the cat knew Grim would be on right about now, considering continuing to stalk her, before deciding to heed the pirate skeleton's warning and talk to her person. She was a curious cat but she wasn't keen on seeing her favorite person potentially hurt the person at the center of her new favorite pastime. Besides, it would become boring to stalk her if she was just quiet and depressed all the time. Seeing this kind of crazy crap happen around her was part of the fun after all.

Lady Paddington slipped into her person's office, jumping onto Fate's desk to get his attention.

"Ah, Lady Pawdington. It's a surprise to see you before my nightly meeting," Fate said, stroking the cat's back. Lady let out a soft purr and nuzzled against his head before letting out a questioning meow.

"Yes, I heard about what happened in the offices earlier. Believe me, I've heard," Fate said with a sigh, looking at the wall and contemplating something. "Though I doubt I've heard the entire story… I understand that they've been having problems since they've woken up. But something tells me this just isn't something they would do unprovoked." Lady Pawdington responded with a purr and Fate looked back at her.

"Exactly! Both of us agree and both of us are rarely incorrect," Fate replied. "Did you manage to see what happened, Lady?" Lady Pawdington grinned and snickered before retelling the entire chain of events to him, greatly enjoying her chance to pass on such fun and juicy gossip. Nothing ever seemed to happen in the office, after all. So something like this was a goldmine of amusement. By the end of the story, Fate had his head down on his desk, burying his head in his arms to muffle his laughter.

"They just chucked it at him, with absolutely no emotion, while it was ON FIRE," Fate laughed, the absolute absurdity of the entire idea just too much for him. "Were they actually intending to set the other spawn on fire?" Lady made a noncommittal noise, indicating that she had no idea. "No matter, we'll find out if we ask." After he finished laughing, he took a moment to pull himself together. He hadn't laughed like that in centuries and it felt kind of nice. Fate sat up and took a moment to think of the implications of certain things he had heard during the story.

"I will admit, it is strange to learn that the reapers in the department have given themselves names and genders in some cases. And I'm surprised to hear that there is any bullying going on in the office at all. I had assumed that they didn't have the capacity to have complex relations like that and bully one another. I was aware that their personalities varied but… They truly do act just like the humans it seems, hmm?" Fate started petting Lady again as he continued talking, causing her to purr happily. "Just the same as I do… Perhaps the process of creating a Grim brings forth much more complex beings than I suspected. Or perhaps it is simply due to myself being the one creating them that they are so human-like.In any case, they all seem just as capable as I am of complex emotions and thought. Which would imply that death spawns aren't lesser beings, unlike what myself and the other managers were led to believe… It may be time for me to take that into consideration when interacting with them. Besides, if I and the others have been deceived about the nature of the spawns we've created this entire time, then there is no telling what other incorrect information myself and the others have been convinced of..."

Fate trailed off and seemed to think deeply about something for a bit. Lady looked up at him as he continued petting her and made a questioning noise, encouraging him to share his thoughts aloud.

"Do you think Grim has a name they prefer to go by?" Fate asked her, seemingly out of nowhere. Lady thought for a moment and made a slight noise in response. "You don't think so? How come?" He listened to Lady for a bit and spoke again when she was done speaking. "The shopkeep referred to Grim as a her, huh? But not by any specific name? That's fascinating… I wonder why I haven't been corrected at this point." Lady gave a series of quick meows. "She didn't correct her coworkers either? Interesting…" Lady made an amused noise and Fate looked down at her with a somewhat affronted look on his face.

"No, there is no reason why I keep asking after her, specifically." Fate glanced away nervously, clearly in denial. "How could you even imply that…" Lady gave another amused meow and Fate frowned a bit. "No, I'm not saying that… You know as well as I do that I've been struggling not to become friends with her, so that is certainly not the case." Lady let out another questioning meow. "What? Well, it'll inform my treatment from the spawns from now on, certainly. But it's still quite unprofessional to…" Lady cut him off with an annoyed meow and Fate addressed her more sternly.

"Lady, I'm the one who's in charge here. Which means it is my responsibility to act professionally at all times, regardless of my personal feelings on the matter." Lady gave him an imploring meow, nuzzling his hand. "Loosen up? I'm not… I'm not quite sure… Would it truly be alright? I don't want to be _too_ lax with the others, though…" Lady purred softly in response. "You have a point. She seems to be the type to try and keep a healthy separation between work and her personal life. She'd understand the need for me to treat her the same way I treat all of the others when it comes to work."

Lady let out a quick series of meows, tilting her head slightly. Fate looked at her, seeming both conflicted and curious.

"You think I should be more honest with her?" He asked, seeming both perturbed and curious about the idea. "Being honest leaves me vulnerable you know… Do you really think that I should trust her with that? Besides, what of my… issues concerning humanity? It would come up eventually and I highly doubt she feels as I do about the humans, after all. She seems to take such care in choosing between them." Lady sat up and poked his nose with her paw, giving him an encouraging meow. "You truly believe she won't think less of me? Perhaps if I am honest from the beginning, she will follow my lead and be more honest as well…"

Fate took a moment to think, wondering if it was worth it to try and become friends with the newest spawn. He couldn't lie and say that he wasn't endlessly fascinated by Grim. She was just so different from every spawn he had ever created. There was also that feeling as if he had known her for a long time now, long before she had ever come into being. Perhaps she felt the same way and that was why she seemed to know him so well. It was almost unnerving how even on the first day she had known exactly how to get a reaction out of him, even the ones he never allowed anyone to see.

If they did become friends later, perhaps he could trust her enough to reveal what he'd been plotting. He had never figured out a different solution but perhaps someone with a different perspective on things could help him find one that isn't as… extreme. He was really questioning himself on it, after all. He might not hold any love for humanity but did that mean they deserved to pay the ultimate price simply because he didn't like his job? Plus, there was once a point where he had cared about the humans. Loved them, even. That had to count for something, right? He knew that he wouldn't be feeling the doubt he felt now if something within him didn't still care for them, even if he didn't know what piece of him still did.

He had to admit a friendship with Grim was quite appealing to him and there were plenty of ways it could potentially benefit both of them. Though he wasn't quite sure she would feel the same. But Lady Pawdington seemed to be certain that Grim would respond well to him and she has been the one watching the reaper… He let out a weary sigh as he came to a decision.

"Alright, you've convinced me. I'll try to become friends with her. I just hope you're right about this," Fate said, Lady letting out a pleased sound. "Don't celebrate just yet. You know I'm not good with these things and from how you described her distance from her other coworkers, she isn't one to open up to others either. It'll likely take longer than you expect. I'll start by being a bit more open with her and see from there." Lady let out a distinctly unconcerned meow before curling up on the desk and feigning disinterest.

Fate let out a small chuckle and left the cat to her fake sleep, deciding to take a look at the documents that their newest recruit had sent in before she got there. Perfect, just as they had been yesterday and the day previous. This reaper seemed to be meticulous in her work, which was always something he appreciated. It always made his job easier. She had also sent every file in the correct order every day so he didn't even have to reorganize it, unlike with the other spawn's paperwork. Though the amount of paperwork coming in that didn't have to be reorganized had increased in the past few days. Perhaps Grim had done something that Lady simply hadn't told him about? Fate was about to ask Lady if she had noticed anything when the sound of the door opening interrupted him, causing him to look up.

Grim slipped into the room quietly and shut the door before making her way over and sitting across from him. She was noticeably fidgety and refused to look directly at him, her eyes directed towards the left corner of the room instead. Grim looked like she expected to be scolded, which was to be expected considering what she had done to warrant it. Setting someone on fire was quite… something after all. Though he'd usually get straight to the point, Fate decided that he couldn't pass up this opportunity to mess with Grim a bit. The other had been messing with him in various ways over the past two days after all, so it was only fair. So he gave the reaper a slight smile, startling her into looking at him.

"Grim, my latest spawn," he greeted her amicably and more cheery than he typically was. "Three days you have been with us - how do you feel?" Grim gave him a look at this that could only be described as a 'What the fuck is wrong with you' look, which nearly made him snicker.

"Uh… Do you want an actual answer to that or are you just messing with me?" Grim asked, still looking at him as if he was crazy. "There's no way you _don't_ know what happened down there today."

"Oh? Did something happen, Grim?" Fate asked, doing a terrible job of feigning ignorance as he was very clearly amused by something. Then again he wasn't trying to hide it. He was just trying to get a reaction and it was working.

"Okay, now I _know_ you're fucking with me," Grim replied with a pout, momentarily forgetting the fact that she was talking to her boss and dropping the filter she always used around him. " _I set a guy on fire today!_ Try to keep up." She quickly seemed to remember who she was talking to after she said this and squeaked, covering her mouth with a startled look on her face. This reaction surprised Fate and managed to get a couple of laughs out of him before he could hold them back. Grim gave him a somewhat nervous look at this, having not expected it. She just _cursed_ at him. Sure she hadn't been trying to insult him or anything. But why was he laughing? Maybe she'd broken him? To be fair, she had never set someone in the office on fire before. So this was completely new territory for her.

"Yes, Grim. Yes, you did. And we'll get to that in a moment," Fate said, managing to reign in his amusement for a moment and get back on track. He was still smiling a bit, however, which seemed to cause Grim to relax a bit. "But yes, that was a question I _am_ expecting an answer to. I'm quite curious. Disregarding what happened today, how have you settled in so far?"

"Fine, more or less," Grim replied with a shrug. "The job itself is going great. I feel like I'm doing well at it." Grim then frowned worriedly, something coming to mind. Maybe Fate could help her…? He seemed to have opened up much more than he ever had by this point. So maybe complete honesty with him would be the best way to go this run. "Though I've noticed something strange. I haven't been able to sleep well and I feel hungry constantly. Which, since I'm not technically alive, makes no sense. Do you think there's anything that could help me with all that? It's starting to get on my nerves."

"Is that part of why you snapped so… spectacularly, I suppose?" Fate asked, feeling somewhat concerned. What part of the concoction did he screw up so badly to give this particular Reaper both constant hunger and sleeping problems? He felt guilty about all of the trouble she was having since these were both severe issues that were negatively affecting her 'quality of life'. In any case, he'd certainly have to be much more careful the next time he made a new Death Spawn.

"I'm … Not sure?" Grim replied, thinking hard about it. "Maybe I would've only threatened to set him on fire rather than actually do it if I was in a better state," Grim replied with a sigh. "But don't get me wrong. Most of my anger at that particular reaper can't be attributed to a lack of sleep or hunger. It's not typical of me but I'm almost certain I would've overreacted no matter what. It's just… something I can't really explain."

Grim looked up at Fate with an expression that seemed conflicted. She seemed to be both pleased and upset by something, debating on whether to say something else. After a minute she spoke what was on her mind, figuring sticking with complete honesty was a good way to go since she'd never been in this situation with him before. "In any case, there's no point in blaming yourself. It may seem like your fault, considering the circumstances, but I can say for certain it isn't. You didn't screw anything up during the creation process."

Fate seemed to be shocked and rendered speechless when she said this, which caused her to slightly smile a bit. There were some advantages to being the only one to fully remember getting to know each other. She could read him like an open book and it was always a good time for her whenever she saw his reaction to it.

"That... Umm, well…" Fate sputtered a bit, completely caught off guard. Not even his peers could read him well and all of them had been stuck in the office together since the very beginning. So how could this spawn who wasn't even a week old do so? No matter the reason, it was both concerning and surprisingly comforting that someone else could read him so well. It meant he wouldn't have to explain how he felt about things as much. He was terrible at telling others when something was wrong, even when he wanted to. So having someone who could understand without him having to say anything might be nice. He took a moment to stop sputtering like an idiot and think of a response to what she said.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised you noticed that," Fate finally replied, glancing away and subtly looking into a reflective surface somewhere behind Grim. His eyes _were_ still hidden, right? After quickly determining they were and that Grim hadn't somehow used his eyes to read him, he looked back at the reaper in front of him who was staring back at him with blatant concern. This one seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve. "I'd ask how you know for certain but I get the feeling you wouldn't tell me, even if you could."

"Yeah, sorry," Grim replied, pointedly looking away with a somewhat distressed expression on her face. "Some things just can't be understood, you know? I'm just certain that the potion isn't responsible for the trouble I'm having." She seemed to think for a second before looking back at him with a slight smile. "Except the hunger. The hunger thing was definitely the potion."

"In that case, I may be able to find something in my library that could help with that. Perhaps something to help you sleep, as well," Fate said, mirroring Grim's expression. He remembered reading somewhere that mirroring a person's mannerisms back at them helped to make them feel more relaxed and willing to open up to you. He'd also noticed that during the first two days, Grim used the same technique on him while they were talking and he'd noticed it certainly worked on him. "Now, why don't you tell me about what actually happened downstairs? I've only heard a couple of sides of the entire story."

Grim sighed and started retelling Fate the entire story. It was pretty much the same story Lady Pawdington had told him while the story he had gotten from the 'victim' earlier had been almost completely different. Grim was obviously embarrassed by the lack of control she had earlier and as she told the story she covered her face with her hands, almost as if she was trying to hide. By the time she was done, she had her head on the desk and hidden in her folded arms, looking like she wanted to sink into the floor. Fate felt a bit worried about her. Sure, what she'd done was… pretty bad. But he'd never seen someone so disappointed and embarrassed with themselves before. He definitely felt like she was punishing herself enough, perhaps even too much, and he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Well, it's apparent that you know such behavior is unacceptable," Fate replied, frowning in concern. "So I assume this won't be a problem in the future."

"I'm pretty certain I got it all out," Grim muffledly replied, not moving to sit up. She wanted to fall through the floor, honestly. Everyone else may have found it funny but she hated losing her composure in front of others. She couldn't help but feel that she should be in control of herself at all times. She already had no control over the whole loop thing that was happening to her. So she should at least control herself. "It doesn't matter though. I shouldn't have lost my composure in the first place. Especially for something so unimportant…"

"It clearly wasn't unimportant to you, Grim," Fate replied with a sympathetic tone, hesitating for a moment before reaching a hand towards her and briefly resting it on Grim's arm in what he hoped was an understanding or at least supportive gesture. This caught Grim's attention and she peeked up at him. "There's no need to be so hard on yourself. You've been having a rough time since you've arrived here and being bullied by someone else after only a couple of days doesn't help. It's ridiculous to expect anyone to have perfect control over themselves at all times and it's not something you should expect of yourself."

Fate sighed and glanced away, looking at Lady Pawdington who was still 'asleep' and moving his hand to pet the cat. "Besides, according to others in the office, that particular spawn has been troublesome for a long while now. If I'd noticed and handled it by now, as I should've, then there wouldn't have been a problem in the first place."

"How're you supposed to know anything's wrong if you don't work in the same room and nobody tells you?" Grim replied, sitting up and frowning a bit. "You've got your own job, one that's much more difficult than ours. Your job is not to babysit us. You shouldn't HAVE to. That's what the middle managers are for. They work in the same space, they should've handled it. If it didn't work, _then_ they could contact you. But it falls on them to do their job first and they obviously didn't, if you only just found out about it when things escalated."

Fate looked a bit surprised when he looked back at her. As if nobody else had ever even taken into consideration that his job might be difficult and he might not have time to do everything. Grim gave him a surprisingly understanding smile, almost as if she understood exactly what his job entailed. Maybe she did. He wouldn't be surprised at all.

"If you're gonna tell me to not hold myself to unrealistic expectations then you can't do the same thing," Grim stated with a stubborn glare. Fate gave her an exasperated look though he was also slightly smiling. He could already tell there wasn't a point in arguing with the reaper. He'd seen that kind of stubbornness on his own face often enough.

"Alright, fine," Fate replied, rolling his eyes. Not that the reaper could actually see his eyes, of course, but she could still tell that he had. "I don't care if the other spawns go to the middle managers for it. But you come directly to me if anything else like this happens down there that you can't work out peacefully on your own, Grim. I don't mind if you end up interrupting any important meetings or whatever. Workplace bullying will not be tolerated in my department. As it is, I'm going to have a lengthy chat with the middle managers and their… lack of presence. I didn't put them in their positions to be professional slackers."

"If you say so…" Grim replied, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of potentially interrupting him while he was busy but willing to do so. "So about that daily review…"

"Ah, yes, thank you for reminding me," Fate said with surprise, looking back at the papers on his desk. "It had completely slipped my mind, with everything else. Nothing to complain about, as is typical. You did your job perfectly. Though I'm honestly surprised you didn't make a mistake, considering the chaos of today…"

"Yeah… Hey, could I maybe… take a look at those papers, please?" Grim asked, seeming a bit nervous about asking. Fate looked at her curiously, thinking for a moment.

"I don't see why not," Fate said, sliding them over to her. "Would you mind telling me why, though?" Grim looked at the profiles for a moment, seeming pleased by them, before looking at him with a sheepish expression.

"Well, I got a brief glance at them before everything went down," Grim said, pushing them back towards him. "But I was in a rush to leave after all of that. So I ended up marking the profiles without actually looking at them or thinking about it…"

"Wh… how!?" Fate exclaimed, looking at her like she couldn't be a real person. "You even adhered to my test note! How did you manage it?!" Grim shrugged, giving him a surprised look.

"Dumb luck? I did end up marking the profiles just as I would've if I had actually been paying attention. Though I'll be honest, I hadn't even noticed the note. I didn't expect to be tested in that way until at least the 4th day I was here or something," Grim replied innocently, inwardly snickering at the surprise on Fate's face. Saying things to mess with him was always such fun. Fate sighed and shook his head with a small smile.

"You are both fascinating and terrifying, Grim," Fate replied, not even thinking about what he said until after he said it. Grim gave him a bright smile in response and found he couldn't be bothered to worry about how easily that thought had slipped out, even though he usually would. He glanced at the clock he kept over his office door and was surprised by how much time had passed since Grim had arrived. They'd been talking for over an hour now. He hadn't even noticed the time flying by and she probably hadn't either "Oh! It seems time escaped us. I apologize for keeping you here for so long." Grim turned and looked at the clock, also surprised at how much time had gone by

"No need to apologize," Grim replied, turning back to look at him with a smile. "Talking with you has been the highlight of my day. I should thank you, actually. I feel much better than I did earlier."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Fate said, genuinely happy that he was able to help. "I'll admit, talking with you has lifted my mood as well. However, it's getting quite late so I believe we should call it a night. I hope you're able to sleep better than you have been, Grim. I'll make sure to tell you if I find anything that may help you sleep better or stop you from feeling hungry."

"Thanks, that means a lot," Grim replied, standing up and seeming to consider something for a moment. She then quickly grabbed one of Fate's hands and squeezed it in her own before letting go and leaving the office, telling him to have a good night while she slipped out. Fate blinked blankly as his mind caught up with what had happened, the quickness of the interaction having stalled his mind a bit. Once his mind caught up he felt a sense of deja vu and was left wondering why her grabbing his hand and squeezing it had felt so familiar to him.

As Grim wandered down the hallway towards her room, she felt her curiosity and restlessness about what Mortimer was doing with her radio grow. Nothing like this had ever happened before so who knew what would come of it. It had been a long time since a new mechanic had been introduced into the game. Hopefully, it didn't take her too long to learn it.

Grim stopped her train of thought and inwardly scolded herself when she realized she was thinking in video game terminology. Again. So she took a moment to remind herself that though I may feel like a game to her because of the many cycles she'd been through, it wasn't one. The people she cared for, the people she didn't, and everyone in between. They were people with lives, dreams, aspirations… They weren't just NPCs who could just be discarded with no consequences.

Thinking of this whole thing as a game wasn't a bad thing in itself. As long as she didn't lose sight of the fact that the consequences of the decisions she makes are permanent for those in this world. She happened to care for some people here. Thus, she'd need to be cautious, especially while treading in completely new territory. She had never been this close with Fate before. She had never broken the globe before. The radio was getting a new, and likely permanent, purpose. Everything happening was unexplored territory and she was determined to find the best ending for her and her loved ones in all of this mess. That is if she could ever reach a real end.

Eventually, she made it to her room and got ready to face another night of restlessness. But somehow, despite her nervousness at finally encountering a new potential path after so long, Grim slept fairly easily and calmly that night.


	3. After Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for taking so long with this one. A lot of unfortunate personal stuff has happened to me in the past few weeks and it has absolutely drained my motivation and my confidence, in both my writing and myself as a person. I'm no where near better on the personal front but I've managed to work up the nerve to post what I wrote and start writing again. There will be a few details about the mystery Grim is working on and a bit about how the office works in this chapter, but the next chapter is the one that will delve deeper into both things. So I hope those of you reading this will enjoy it!
> 
> Content/Trigger Warnings: Swearing (Nothing else, really. Unless you count affectionate, fluffy cats or a slight case of one-sided swooning on Grim's part. No spoilers this chapter, either. This chapter is the slightly silly calm before shit gets more serious.)

Without a premonition could you tell me where we stand? I'd hate to lose this light before we land.  
_-[The Light Before We Land 【The Delgados】](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7qU2MWWfLg)_

Grim was annoyed. Three days! Only three days had passed and already things seemed to be going weird. It was only day six. She hadn't even made it to the end of her seven day evaluation period yet! Couldn't all the weird shit wait for one more day? Apparently not. Strange things had technically been going on since she had turned on the radio but she only learned that they were strange that morning.

She was sitting under her desk with her lamp in the empty and shadow-filled office, scribbling furiously in her red notebook while tuning out the excited squeaking nearby. She had let the cat who'd been spying on her since day one play with Gerbil in exchange for her not blabbing about her notebook to Fate, though she didn't officially give it to her yet. It was kinda adorable to see her play with it though.

Grim looked up for a moment from her writing to briefly watch Lady Pawdington play with the toy. Lady didn't seem to be as rough with the toy as she had been when she first started giving it to the cat. Within the past 300 runs or so, she'd played with it as if she was playing with another cat or kitten. It was so precious. She wasn't sure when or how the toy managed to become friends with Lady, considering the cat seemed to remember just as little as Fate did. Though who knows. Maybe she did remember. She couldn't see into Lady's mind after all.

Grim smiled slightly and looked back down at her notebook, beginning to write again. She lost herself in her thoughts as she wrote, trying to mentally work through what information she had gathered about her new problem so far. But soon enough she was snapped out of her thoughts by Lady Pawdington pawing gently at the notebook.

Grim closed the notebook and put it in a compartment on the underside of the desk that she had made for it during one of her previous runs before she focused on the cat that had placed the gerbil toy on her leg and jumped in her lap. Lady was purring and nuzzling her neck, which was both endearing and slightly freaking her out. Lady had never gotten this close to her. At least, as far as she could recall. What could the reason for it be? Maybe she just wanted attention?

Grim hesitantly brought her hand towards the cat and gently ran it through Lady's fur. Lady gave a pleased purr and nuzzled into Grim's hand happily. Grim smiled a bit and continued to give the cat attention, feeling less overwhelmed by the new situation she found herself in. New was a good thing after all, right? She had a chance to get somewhere. It could be another dead end but it might not be. Maybe she could find her way out of the maze this time and get a better ending for everyone involved. She hoped that she could. If there was any run she wanted to find a good end for it was this one.

The gerbil toy released a happy squeak on its own, causing both Grim and Lady to look at it. It squeaked again, making Grim briefly wonder if it was trying to tell them something. That was when she heard footsteps approaching her desk. She might have felt worried about it, but Lady remaining calm and continuing to purr easily tipped her off to who it likely was. She was proven right a moment later when they stopped by her desk and bent down to look under it.

"Ah, so that's where you went," Fate said, an amused look on his face as he looked at the reaper curled up beneath her desk. Said reaper gave him a sheepish look in response while his cat lounged on her lap and purred contentedly, pawing at the cat toy sitting on her leg. It was strangely adorable, which made sense considering Lady Pawdington was involved. His cat had the ability to make anything adorable.

"Hey, Fate…" Grim said sheepishly, squeaking in surprise and then giggling when Lady suddenly sat up and nuzzled her cheek with the side of her face. "C'mon cat, give me a break." Grim gently pushed the cat back a bit and whispered something to her with a grin. Whatever she said caused the cat to let out an amused sound. Then she quickly turned and jumped at Fate, causing him to shout in surprise and fall back into a sitting position floor.

Grim stood up while Fate was distracted, grabbing the lamp, putting it back on her desk, and turning it off. She then grabbed Gerbil and gently pet the toy before putting it away in her desk drawer. Meanwhile, Fate was laughing as his cat playfully batted at his face. He was so distracted trying to fend off Lady's light attack that he failed to notice that his glasses had been knocked askew enough that they were no longer hiding his right eye from view.

"What did you say to her, Grim?!" Fate exclaimed through his laughter, finally managing to hold the cat back long enough to get her to stop and jump back to the ground. Grim snickered and offered Fate her hand to help him up. It was only after she had helped him up that either of them noticed that Fate's glasses had been knocked out of place.

The room was pretty dark, the reddish-pink of the sunset outside the windows causing dark shadows to be cast from the objects in the room. Grim probably wouldn't have noticed his uncovered eye as easily as she did if all immortal's eyes didn't glow in the dark. Her own brown eyes cast a dim rust-colored glow on Fate's face, allowing her to see his surprised expression clearly. His eyes seemed narrower than hers despite the one eye she could see being wide open at the moment. His iris was a glowing yellow that matched his bowtie and the sclera of his eye was pure black, contrasting her own eyes which had the more typical white sclera that you could see more often around the Earth-based offices.

Grim could understand why Fate would hide his eyes, considering the existing biases within their department. A small group of people around their department were particularly vocal about how much eyes with black sclerae freak them out, though apparently, skeletons don't count since they don't have actual eyes. Therefore, I'd make sense for him to hide his eyes so he wouldn't have to deal with a group of workers who refused to trust their department manager. The whole thing made no sense to her, though. They all looked so different from each other that you couldn't consider any type of feature as being "normal." Grim herself found those types of eyes quite beautiful. Especially when they had a lighter colored iris and were sharper rather than round, the opposite of her own eyes. She found the combination simply striking.

Fate stared back at her for a second before his face started going a bit pink and he lifted his hand to quickly put his glasses back in place. Grim gave him an apologetic look in an attempt to hide how giddy she was about finding out what was behind his glasses. She was pretty sure she was failing. She'd never been that great at hiding her emotions.

"To be fair, I didn't tell her to do _that_ ," Grim said with a nervous look. Fate looked back at her and stared intently, analyzing her expression. After a moment, he sighed exasperatedly and gave her a slight smile.

"It's fine," he replied, surprised to find that he meant it. Grim seemed to become a bit worried by his response, though. "No, really. It's alright. I'm just glad it's you and not…" He trailed off and Grim had a look of understanding on her face as she seemed to realize who he was talking about.

"Yeah. They can be assholes about that," Grim replied with an eye-roll, clearly finding the whole thing ridiculous."Like, it's just so stupid... Why be distrustful or scared of someone else just because you're not used to seeing the kind of features they have? Especially in a place where we all look so different from one another? I've never felt that way, personally. I..! Umm, in any case, you won't have to worry about that kind of shit from me. I think those kinds of eyes look super cool."

Grim's face went a bit red as she just barely managed to stop herself from gushing about how striking she found those types of eyes to be, particularly ones that looked just like his. Good Gods, she'd almost majorly screwed up. That would've been _beyond_ embarrassing. She looked away from Fate as she tried to hide her thoughts, which were mostly about how stunning she thought his eyes were except for one part of her that was yelling about how 'super cool' was such a fucking understatement that she should be ashamed.

Fate felt his embarrassment shift to amusement at Grim's awkwardness. It was a bit silly worrying about her reaction at all. Of course she wouldn't be one of those people who mistrusted others just because they looked different. Lady wouldn't like her if she was, after all. Still, part of him had felt both worry and mortification when their eyes had locked and he realized the vision in his right eye was awfully blurry.

It didn't surprise him that he'd felt so concerned. He had been hiding his eyes from the world for as long as he could remember. He suspected he'd received the glasses very soon after he was created, though he couldn't remember that far back. He knew he wasn't created with them on his face. But no one in the office knew what his eyes looked like. Not even his colleagues who were much older than him. So he had to have gotten his hands on the glasses before he was brought there, somehow.

The only being who had known what his eyes looked like had been Lady Pawdington, though he supposed he had to add this particular Reaper to that list now. It surprisingly didn't feel like he was losing anything now that Grim knew. The glasses never seemed to do anything to hide his thoughts from her in the first place. With the way she could read him, it was as if he wasn't even wearing them. He wasn't worried about it getting out either. He couldn't say how, but he knew for certain that Grim was the type of reaper who would take such knowledge 'to her grave.' Whatever that phrase might mean for immortals like them.

Fate then remembered why he had come down here to find Grim in the first place, mentally slapping himself for getting distracted. "Ah, Grim. I just remembered. You never came up for your daily feedback meeting."

"Ah yes, that…" Grim trailed off, looking sheepishly apologetic. "Sorry, I kinda forgot. I got distracted."

"Something more important than playing with my cat, I hope," Fate replied with a chuckle.

"Oh, yeah, definitely," Grim quickly exclaimed while the cat in question gave a disgruntled meow and weaved in and out of both of their legs distractingly as if to say nothing was more important than playing with her. Grim laughed and Fate chuckled at Lady's antics. "Yeah yeah. We know. Nothing in the universe is more important than _you_ , cat." Lady Pawdington made a scoffing sound at Grim's cheeky comment and jumped onto the center of her desk, pointedly facing away from the two immortals and curling up on the desk to ignore them.

"Ah, look what you've done, Grim. She's going to be like this all night now," Fate scolded. He was still slightly smiling though so he obviously found it kind of funny.

"Eh. She'll live," Grim said carelessly with a slight smirk. She then gave him a slight frown. "I am sorry about not heading up, though. I didn't mean to lose track of time. I didn't even register that them turning off the light meant it was super late. I just grabbed my lamp and kept doin' what I was doin'."

"You're not going to tell me what you were doing, are you," Fate stated in a flat tone with a slightly amused yet exasperated look on his face.

"Nope," Grim replied with a small mischievous smile, playfully popping the p at the end. Then a thoughtful look appeared on her face. "Not yet anyways. I think I'm onto something big here but I don't wanna tell anyone until I'm more certain about what it is that I'm looking at. If it does end up being something important you'll be the first to know, of course. I trust you more than anyone else here. Besides, you're my direct supervisor. So it also makes sense professionally."

"So it's something to do with the office then?" Fate asked, satisfied with knowing he'd likely find out what she was doing soon enough.

"It might be?" Grim replied hesitantly with a small frown, seeming concerned. "I'm not sure yet. But investigating the office is always a slippery slope so I have to be extra careful with that. In any case, I wouldn't want to involve you too early. Not until I'm more certain."

Fate disregarded the strange wording of what she said, making it almost sound as if she had done this before. That would be impossible, after all. He was willing to drop the matter for now, though, since he realized that he had yet to ask her how her day in the office went like he meant to.

"Ah! I've been meaning to ask, Grim," Fate said, catching Grim's attention before she started contemplating too deeply on whatever she was dealing with. He sat down in the chair at Grim's desk, a bit tired of standing, and started scratching Lady, who was still resolutely ignoring both of them, behind the ear before continuing. "It looked to be a rough day out there. New recruits often falter during dark times. Yet you seem to have performed adequately. How do you feel after such a day?"

"Oh yeah. The gang wars or whatever the fuck," Grim replied, perching herself on the edge of the desk next to Lady and starting to stroke her back soothingly. She took a moment to think about it before replying with a slight frown. "To be honest, bad. I did what I needed to, of course. But that doesn't mean I like it."

"Exactly," Fate said, giving her a small, sympathetic smile. "You and I are on the same page. We all do what is _necessary_. Even if it makes us... suffer."

"Yep. Whatever the omnipotent magical office demands of us. Gods forbid that we actually get told why it is the way it is though," Grim said, rolling her eyes at how absurd it all was. Fate chuckled at her attitude towards the whole thing, having a similar opinion about it.

"It's obvious you've been paying attention, in any case. You know exactly what was going on today," Fate stated, impressed that Grim was able to specify exactly what kind of conflict was happening. Grim gave him a slight smile.

"Yeah. Considering the profiles that came in it was a bit obvious," Grim replied. She ended up glancing at the radio on her desk that was currently silent and glaring at it slightly. The music coming out of it today had made it pretty obvious, as well. Though it also gave her the usual problem that she had only found out was a problem that morning. She was taken out of her thoughts by a purring sound coming from beneath her hand.

"Ah, can't ignore us anymore, hmm?" Fate asked Lady, smiling at the happily purring cat.

"Seems like it," Grim said with a laugh, lightly scratching the side of Lady's neck and making her purr a bit louder. She contentedly nuzzled her head against Grim's hand while wrapping her tail around Fate's arm, seemingly happy to spend the rest of the night on the desk if she could. Grim looked up from the cat and out the large windows of the office as something shifted outside of them. The dark red of the sky began to smoothly transition into a purple as stars began to become visible. The purple then shifted into indigo and then into black as more stars appeared and galaxies slowly shifted into focus. The band of the Milky Way gradually became visible as well, a white wispy band stretching across the heavens. Within several minutes the entire area outside the office had fully shifted from a beautiful burning sunset to a spectacular star and galaxy filled night sky.

Grim smiled peacefully at the familiar scenery. She had stayed behind in the Grim Offices many times before in previous runs to see the shifting take place behind the impressive, wall height windows. There had even been times when she was greatly troubled that she had hidden on the unused second floor of the area and slept in the corner against the windows there. The ghost janitors never complained about it since she always left the place as clean as she found it.

Grim was brought out of her reminiscing by a sound of astonishment alongside a mesmerized mewl. She looked over at Fate and Lady Pawdington, having briefly forgotten that she wasn't alone. The cat was staring out the window with a cautious but mesmerized curiosity. Fate, meanwhile, looked amazed and just as mesmerized as the cat. Grim recognized his expression from herself, having had the same reaction when she'd seen this happen for the first time.

"Have you never seen the outside of the office at night before?" Grim asked with surprise. Fate had been here for so long. There was no way he hadn't seen outside the building at night. His office even had a small window.

"Of course I have. Don't be stupid," Fate replied exasperatedly, using his free hand to lightly flick Grim's forehead.

"Oi!" Grim exclaimed, grinning slightly. Fate rolled his eyes and looked back out the window with a slight smile.

"I've never seen it like this before, though," Fate said, seeming mesmerized by the view outside. "The window in my office doesn't have that good a view of the outside and I've never really been down here before. I wasn't even aware the room had windows like this."

"You haven't been here before? At all?" Grim asked with a frown. "You've been here a super long time, right? Why haven't you come down to the office itself?"

"Well… Technically, I'm not supposed to," Fate replied, glancing away. "Not unless there's a major emergency of some kind."

"That is super weird," Grim replied with a curious frown. "I get there are middle managers and such but that seems a bit too hands-off…"

"It _is_ too hands-off. For my taste at least," Fate interjected, seeming very disgruntled about it. He probably shouldn't be telling a death spawn about how the office works. But the relaxed atmosphere in the room made him feel more talkative than he typically was. Plus, he felt a need to complain to someone about the things about his job that annoyed him. "It's not just our department, either. It's every single one. I wasn't a fan and neither were the Plant and Animal department managers. But apparently, almost everyone else thought it was a _wonderful_ idea and in Highest Management, majority rules."

"That doesn't seem like a very effective way to run the place," Grim stated. "Different departments would have different needs after all. A one size fits all style of management never works out well."

"I agree. But the office has been being run this way since way before I was placed within it. There's not much I can do," Fate replied with a sigh. "You wouldn't believe how hard the other Earth Departments and I had to fight for all of the department managers to be allowed to have one direct report each."

"Wait, I'm your only direct report?" Grim asked, shocked. She'd figured several reapers were reporting directly to Fate since it would be more efficient. The office prided itself on its efficiency, after all.

"Well, technically, you won't be my direct report until after you officially pass your seven day evaluation period tomorrow," Fate responded. "But after that, yes." Grim startled suddenly when he mentioned the evaluation period.

"Shit! That's…" Grim squinted and looked at a clock on the wall. "Later today!"

"Is it?" Fate asked in a startled tone, also squinting at the clock. "Oh my. I'm sorry, Grim. I hadn't even noticed the time going by so quickly."

"It's not your fault," Grim replied, sliding off the desk and standing."Wouldn't have happened if I'd gone up to your office on time. I guess we should call it a night then. Besides, the building always goes weird when it hits three and I don't feel like taking the stairs."

"The building goes weird?" Fate asked with confusion. Lady Pawdington made an amused snorting noise as she stretched and jumped onto Fate's shoulders, draping herself across them comfortably.

"Lady seems to know what I'm talking about," Grim said with a chuckle, walking towards the office doors with Fate. She felt a few reservations about telling Fate about the building if he didn't already know. But she figured that the information he'd given her wasn't something she should've been told. So info for info, she supposed. "The elevator doesn't work, for one. Then there's the twisting rooms, stretching hallways, rooms trading places, impossible geometry… That kind of stuff. That's why there are warnings around the building not to leave our rooms between 3 to 6 AM."

"Which, obviously, you have done," Fate replied with amusement.

"Obviously," Grim agreed with a smile. "I know I shouldn't but sometimes I just can't sleep. Walking through the building when I've had a bad dream helps distract me since I need to watch where I'm going. I've heard if you aren't back in a room belonging to this building by the time things return to normal, you can end up in a completely different place."

"Where did you hear that from?" Fate asked curiously, pressing the button to call the elevator.

"Well, I'm not the only one who walks around this place when I'm not supposed to," Grim replied, grinning a bit and entering the elevator with Fate, pressing the buttons for both the floor her room was on and the top one. "You know that shopkeeper, Mortimer? He said it happened to him once. Apparently, it took him days to get back. He had to make his way back by going through whatever building he ended up in while it was in flux and finding one of the rooms belonging to this one."

"That sounds both exciting and terrifying," Fate said, feeling conflicted about that information. On one hand, that would be a pretty fun adventure. Much more exciting than his droll job. But on the other hand, what if he never made it back? He might not like his job much, but he couldn't just leave it and the office behind.

"Right? It'd be cool for a bit but I wouldn't want to get stuck anywhere. If I did, I wouldn't get to see you or your delightful kitty," Grim replied, giving Lady a little scratch on her neck and making her purr. As the door to the elevator opened on her floor Grim made an impulsive decision and pulled Fate into a quick hug, knocking his glasses out of place again. Fate was startled to the point that he was frozen in shock. But, to her credit, the cat took the sudden movement well, simply making an amused purring sound. Grim released Fate from the hug almost as quickly as she pulled him into it, walking out of the door and looking back at him over her shoulder with a wave and an amused grin.

"Be seeing you," Grim called out happily, inwardly laughing at how discombobulated Fate looked as the door closed. She loved messing with him. Getting to see his eyes in much better lighting was also a plus. Though she was lucky the doors closed when they did or there might have been enough time for Fate to notice her staring. After a few seconds of staring at nothing, Grim shook herself out of it, inwardly scolding herself as she walked down the hall to her door. She didn't have time for… whatever that was. She needed to figure out her next move. Entering into the small front room with her mirror, she couldn't help but look into the mirror when it started speaking.

"Bit of a risk you're taking... Isn't it, Reaper?" The mirror asked, the voice of her favorite personality coming from it. Grim gave the mirror an exasperated smile as her reflection shifted into the form of the girl whose appearance had become synonymous with her own by now. At least, in her mind it had.

"Obviously. But you and I both know there's a risk to any choice I make here," Grim replied. "If he asks Mortimer about it, you know that crazy skeleton will roll with it. He'll take any chance he can to weave a fun tale. Besides, Fate's extremely cautious. He won't leave that office at night unless he feels he has to. He'll be gone in a couple of days due to whatever emergency it is that happens this time so I don't really have time to wait on it. Soon I'll be able to truly begin my investigation. But if I end up flying too close to the sun I want him to have a chance, at least. If he can make things better for himself and the others who work in this office, I should at least offer him the tools to do so."

"If we remain, though…" the mirror said, trailing off. Grim gave the mirror a stern look at this.

"If you're all still here, then I expect you to help him," Grim replied. "AND I expect you to tell him what you remaining here means. There isn't any need to make him suffer unnecessarily. At that point, you can be sure of it. You remember what happened last time, after all."

"For all we know, that could've been a one-time thing," a male voice from the mirror interjected. Grim smiled a bit. She and this voice might not get along. But he was always willing to address the elephant in the room, which was quite helpful when it came to talking through problems.

"I know," Grim replied. "But you know how this works. You can't exist without me in this timeline somewhere. If you're still here then I'm still in this timeline. And you know what that means."

"I suppose you're right," the first voice said. "By that point, we should know enough to be of some use anyway."

"Don't forget though. If it comes to this it has to be his choice to finish what I started. Don't coerce him," Grim stated sternly. "I won't put up with that. And keep that, um, whatever she called herself… You know who I mean. Keep her out of this. Fate has enough of an ego that he'd definitely clash with her. That'd be inconvenient, to say the least.

"Well, obviously," the second voice replied snarkily. If he had eyes, he'd probably be rolling them. "We've been keepin' her suppressed well enough. Just don't be super successful at anything and it'll be fine."

"Gee, thanks," Grim replied with a flat look, crossing her arms. "I'll try to not be too successful at investigating."

"You know what he means," the first voice said with an amused tone. "Just don't get too cocky. Not that you usually have that problem, oh humble one."

"Can it," Grim replied, giving a slightly amused look. "Nothing else matters, as long as we're all set. The pieces are in place for him, should it come down to that." Grim let out a sigh and turned to go to her room so she could sleep for at least a little bit before work. "Let’s just hope it doesn't."

She left and went into the room, intending to sleep, but she couldn't sleep at all. Instead, she remained awake, contemplating what new information she had learned from her chat with Fate, and spent the rest of the night planning out where her investigation should begin.


End file.
